Topline
Longtime West Virginia College basketball coach Bob Huggins will hold his job and take a pay minimize, the college announced Wednesday, after the coach used an anti-gay slur in a radio interview earlier this week, prompting fierce backlash and an apology from Huggins, who acknowledged, “There are penalties for our phrases and actions, and I’ll absolutely settle for any coming my approach.”
West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins talks to his gamers through the first half of an NCAA school … [+] basketball recreation in opposition to Texas Tech.
Key Details
Huggins will return as head coach for the following season after agreeing to a three-game suspension and a $1 million wage minimize, the college said in an announcement.
The cash from Huggins wage minimize will go to WVU’s LGBTQ+ Middle, the college’s counseling and psychological providers middle and different state and nationwide organizations that “assist marginalized communities,” WVU said.
As a substitute of a multi-year settlement, Huggins will agreed to a year-by-year contract that may finish April 2024, and if “incidents of comparable derogatory and offensive language” occur once more, the college said it is going to instantly terminate him.
Huggins, in addition to present and future athletics teaching workers, shall be required to attend annual coaching classes with WVU’s LGBTQ+ Middle, and Huggins particularly will meet with LGBTQ+ leaders from the state, WVU said.
The college additionally said Huggins volunteered to make a “substantial” donation to Xavier College—the college he was talking about when he made the derogatory remarks.
Massive Quantity
$4.2 million. That’s how a lot Huggins was anticipated to make within the upcoming season. If he indicators the amended contract, he’ll make $3.2 million for the upcoming season.
Key Background
On Monday Huggins was interviewed on a Cincinnati-area radio station. Throughout the dialog, the hosts and Huggins started discussing the rivalry between Xavier College and the College of Cincinnati, the place Huggins used to educate. Huggins talked about an incident when, throughout a recreation between the rivals, “rubber penises” have been thrown onto the courtroom. He then stated, “What it was, was all these f—, these Catholic f—, I believe,” utilizing a derisive phrase for homosexual males. The audio rapidly unfold on social media and Huggins issued an apology, saying partially that he used “a very insensitive and abhorrent phrase that there’s merely no excuse for.” West Virginia’s athletic division issued a separate assertion calling the remarks “insensitive, offensive” and noting the scenario could be addressed by each the college and the athletics division. Huggins, 69, has spent the final 16 seasons at West Virginia. Earlier than that he served as the top coach at Kansas State College and led Cincinnati’s basketball staff for 16 seasons.
Chief Critic
Colleen Hanycz, president of Xavier College, called Huggins’ remarks “deplorable” and “offensive” throughout remarks on the Cincinnati campus Wednesday.
Additional Studying
Sources: Bob Huggins To Take $1M Salary Reduction For Anti-Gay Slur (ESPN)
